Yuriy Geraskov, a 64-year-old Believer, Died a Week Before He Could Appear in Court. He Spent the Last Year of His Life as a Defendant for Faith

On April 24, 2020, at the age of 64, Kirov resident Yuriy Geraskov died of a long illness. He was one of Jehovah’s Witnesses. The investigator knew about the health condition of the believer, but did not stop the criminal prosecution. Stress from searches and interrogations negatively affected Yuriy's well-being.

The search of Yuriy and his wife Alevtina began early in the morning of October 9, 2018. Three police officers and two witnesses, without identifying themselves, entered the apartment and demanded to "give out drugs" - this is one of the standard absurd methods by which the security forces try to explain their appearance on the doorstep of peaceful and law-abiding believers.

"We said that we did not have drugs," Yuriy himself said shortly after those events, "Then they presented a search document. During the search, we were accused of a crime, of extremism."

Mobile phones were immediately taken away from the believers. The search lasted more than two hours, and believers were allowed to go to the toilet only if accompanied by a police officer. The security forces seized the spouses' electronic equipment, notebooks with notes, several notebooks, 14 family photo albums, a bank card and a Bible in the Synodal translation.

"Then they took me to the police station. I waited for the interrogation in the corridor for 4 hours, the interrogation itself lasted about 20 minutes. One of the policemen asked me, "Aren't you afraid to go to jail?" I said, "No." And another, with a SOBR patch, declared: if it were his will, he would shoot all the Witnesses. It became uncomfortable, "the believer said.

Later, Yuri was taken to the worship building of Jehovah's Witnesses, the Kingdom Hall. There they broke down the door and conducted a search. Finding nothing, the security forces sealed the door and the gate, after which Yuriy was released.

"Although we endured this raid steadfastly, now we shudder at every knock and doorbell," Yuri said at the time and added: "But in general, everything is fine."

A criminal case against Yuriy Geraskov was initiated back in July 2019, and on July 26, a recognizance not to leave was taken from him - a relatively mild measure of restraint, taking into account Yuriy's condition. Until now, the investigator had enough time to realize the unfairness of the accusations against Jehovah's Witnesses and close the criminal case, but he did not do so.

Yuri did not live less than a week before the start of the trial. The Pervomaisky District Court of Kirov scheduled a hearing in the case of Geraskov and six of his fellow believers for April 30, 2020.